


The 25th Hour for Earth

by Almyrah



Series: A Journey Worth Taking [4]
Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Gun Violence, Identity parts 1 and 2, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, POV Second Person, Reader-Insert, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Space Battles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-01-04 08:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21194318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Almyrah/pseuds/Almyrah
Summary: When Isaac suddenly shuts down, it starts a chain of events that'll put the Reader and the crew of the Orville through their toughest challenge yet.First insert of the Reader into an actual episode from the Orville. Tons of drama as yours and Ed's relationship continues to grow.





	1. Let Bortus have his Frosting Flower 2k19

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, Happy (belated) Birthday to Seth!!! We all wouldn't be here without him.
> 
> Secondly, this is basically what it said in the tags, the reader is inserted directly into Identity Part 1 and 2. I tried to keep an even mix between scenes straight from the episode and adding in some original scenes as well so that you guys don't get bored. This is the first time of done something like this for this series so I hope you all enjoy it. (also I apologize for the sucky summary)
> 
> Lastly, I'm not sure where all of the lovely comments and kudos are coming from but you guys are seriously the greatest! 
> 
> Ps. Unfortunately, this semester has been really tough so I probably won't be able to give you guys the second part until Thanksgiving or mid December when it's over

Your shift had been surprisingly uneventful until you, John, Ed, and Kelly were called down to sickbay by Dr. Finn. The four of you shared looks as you left the bridge. “I understand why the Captain and the Commander would be called down to sickbay,” you said to Lt. Commander LaMarr, “But why were we called? We’re not exactly medics.”

“Dr. Finn _was_ unusually vague,” John agreed.

Kelly nodded. “Who on the ship could be sick enough to require all four of us?”

You all entered sickbay to find Isaac lying on the table. “Now I get it,” Ed said.

“Thank you all for coming so quickly,” Claire said.

“Claire, what happened to Isaac?” Kelly asked.

“I don’t know. One minute he was talking to Ty and Marcus, and the next, he collapsed.”

Kelly nodded. “I’ll go see if anything on the ship could have caused this.”

“(F/N)? I took this off of Isaac,” Claire explained while handing you the PortoSim, “I was hoping maybe you could see if this could have caused it.”

“I doubt it did. There’s no way my tech could cause damage to such an advanced species.” At Claire’s worried silence and pleading eyes, you added, “I’ll just go double-check. Can I use your office?”

She nodded, and you immediately ran in and started running every diagnostic check you could think of. You were now 100% certain that whatever happened to Isaac wasn’t because of the PortoSim. You heard Commander Grayson reenter the sickbay a few moments later, so you went out to inform everyone of your discovery.

“We ran a ship-wide diagnostic,” Kelly said, “No power surges, computer viruses, or anything else that might explain why Isaac shut down.”

“And the PortoSim is in pique condition as well,” you added, “I’m absolutely certain that it’s as harmless as a stereo system to Isaac.”

“What about outside the ship?” Ed asked.

“As far as the scans can tell, there’s nothing unusual in this region of space,” Kelly said.

“Let me take him down to engineering,” John said, “Open him up, dig around a little.”

Dr. Finn looked at him with disgust. “He’s not a broken racecar, John. He’s a sentient being. And he’s my patient.”

“Well, right now, your patient looks kinda dead.”

You jumped in when it seemed like Claire was going to physically fight John, placing a hand on her right shoulder. “Sorry, Dr. Finn, us engineers don’t have good bedside manners.”

Ed jumped in as well. “Isaac is not a biological organism. We don’t know how death is defined on his world.”

“Hell,” Kelly said, “What do we know about them?”

“I’ll keep running scans, Captain, but we may have to face the fact that whatever makes Isaac tick is beyond our understanding.” She and John left the table to examine the few diagrams they had on Isaac. At the same time, you, Ed, and Kelly stared solemnly at Isaac’s metal body. Ed moved to where John had been standing.

Ed touched his wrist communicator. “Mercer to Keyali.”

_“Keyali here, sir.”_

He shared a look with both you and the Commander. _Oh boy_. “Get me Admiral Halsey.”

_“Aye, sir.”_ Ed and Kelly left for Ed’s office while you returned to your position on the bridge, the PortoSim placed in your pocket. It didn’t take long for Ed you to discover the Admiral’s answer.

_“Mercer to Bridge.”_

“Bortus here, sir.”

_“Set a course for Kaylon and engage quantum drive.”_ Every single bridge member looked confused.

“Sir? Did you say Kaylon?”

_“Yes, I did.”_

“Aye, sir.”

“Holy shit,” you said softly, “we’re actually doing this.” You opened one of the few unfamiliar digital star charts in the database and inputted the new coordinates.

* * *

A few hours later, Gordon dropped the velocity of the Orville to sublight on Ed’s orders once Kaylon was in sight. “We are a long way from home.”

“Take us in.” You and Gordon flew the Orville closer to the planet.

“It is not so impressive,” Bortus said.

“Open a channel.”

“Channel open.”

“This is Captain Mercer of the starship Orville. We apologize for entering your system unannounced, but we have an emergency. The emissary you sent us shut down, and—”

You jumped when all the lights in the bridge suddenly turned off. “We’re losing main power,” Bortus reported.

“Raise deflectors.”

“Tactical control is not responding.”

As sudden as the Orville lost power, the bridge was suddenly filled with a bright purple light that was emanating from the planet. “Uh, Captain,” John said, “we’re being scanned.”

A wall of the purple light formed on the port side of the bridge and swept to the other side. You had no idea how a scan could be so visible on the _inside_ of a ship. You all followed its movement with distrust. “Oh, man, I bet this causes cancer.”

You shrugged. “It’s not like we won’t be able to cure it.”

“Yeah, but it’ll still suck.”

Once the purple light had disappeared, the bridge lights turned back on. “Power’s been restored,” John reported.

“Sir, I just received a set of landing coordinates,” Talla said.

“Okay, then. Let’s see what’s down there.”

You and Gordon gently maneuvered the ship through the planet’s atmosphere and through the brilliant white clouds until you saw that the Orville was over a significantly darker and crowded metal city full of spires and roads that looked like circuits. The flight to the coordinates was fortunately smooth and uneventful, ending with a soft landing in front of your destination. “Touchdown,” Gordon said, “Locked and stable.”

“Secure all systems. Power down the engines,” Kelly said, “Prep starboard hatch.”

Ed stood up from his chair. “Talla, open a channel.”

“Channel open.”

“This is Captain Mercer. As you can see, we’ve arrived at the landing coordinates, and we await further instructions.”

A voice eerily like Isaac’s responded. _“Exit your craft and proceed to the surface. Bring the emissary.”_

“Will do.” Ed pressed the comms on the Captain’s chair. “Dr. Finn, is your patient ready to go?”

_“Yes, Captain.”_

Ed, Kelly, and Talla left the bridge, and the rest of the crew sat in silence.

“I don’t like this place; it gives me the creeps.” Gordon eventually said.

You couldn’t help but agree. “It’s a beautiful world, but it feels empty and lacks any personality.”

“I mean, what did you expect?” John asked, “It’s a planet full of robots.”

“I also do not like them,” Bortus said from the Captain’s chair.

“Do you think that the Kaylon will join the Union?” you asked.

“I hope so,” John said.

“They know how accepted Isaac was on the ship. I don’t think they can say no,” said Gordon.

Bortus disagreed. “I am not so sure.”

* * *

The bridge crew continued to talk about the Kaylon until Talla returned. They watched her sit down silently.

“So, how did it go?” John asked.

“Well, they fixed Isaac…”

“That’s great!” Gordon exclaimed.

“But Isaac wants to stay on Kaylon,” she finished solemnly.

“What?” you asked.

“He returned to the Orville to say goodbye to Marcus and Ty, but after that, he’ll go back to Kaylon.”

“What? He can’t leave before we all say goodbye,” Gordon said.

“What if we throw him a surprise goodbye party?” John suggested.

“We should! You and Gordon should plan it. The Holiday party that you guys threw for me was absolutely perfect.”

“Okay, but it’s so last minute, we’re going to need all the help we can get,” said John.

“I can help decorate,” you volunteered.

“I’ll rally the crew, let them all know that this is an actual thing,” Talla offered.

“I will sit here,” Bortus said.

Gordon threw his arms in the air. “Alright!” he exclaimed, “Let’s go plan a party!”

A few other members of the crew came down to the Mess hall to help. The party was ready to go in record time, soon Kelly and Ed, along with Claire, Marcus, Ty, Bortus, Klyden, and Topa, joined the group of crew members waiting to surprise Isaac. It felt like the entire crew wanted to say goodbye to Isaac.

“Talla said that she and Isaac are on their way!” Gordon shouted over the general buzz of the crew. A hush immediately fell on the group, and the waited silently for the guest of honor, no one’s eyes leaving the entrance. The doors opened, exposing the party.

“SURPRISE!” everyone shouted.

Isaac slowly made his way through the crowd as the people closest to him expressed their congratulation, slapping him on his metallic back. He stopped when he reached where the rest of the bridge crew had gathered. You stood between John and Kelly with Gordon on John’s right and Ed on Kelly’s left.

“Aw, man, you should’ve seen the look on your face. Ha!” Gordon said, pointing to Isaac.

“Really gonna miss you, Isaac,” Kelly said.

“Hey, Isaac,” John asked, “you want a piece of cake?”

“John baked it himself,” you added.

“You are well aware that I do not require organic nutrients.”

“Oh, ain’t nothing organic about this, buddy.” Gordon went over to the cake, and you moved out of the way so that Isaac could see it. “Look, look. It’s even got little cookie eyes.” Gordon pointed to the cake-Isaac’s eyes animatedly.

“I do not understand this protocol.”

“These people are all here for you, Isaac. They want to say goodbye,” Ed explained.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Gordon said before he made his way to the grand piano in the corner. “Okay, go.” The pianist began to play, and Gordon sang an emotional rendition of the chorus of Air Supply’s Goodbye.

_You would never ask me why_

_My heart is so disguised_

_I just can't live a lie anymore_

_I would rather hurt myself_

_Than to ever make you cry_

_There's nothing left to say but goodbye_

Afterward, people began to mingle again. You grabbed a slice of cake and a glass of Martian fruit punch before sitting down across from Gordon. “It really sucks that Isaac is leaving. I feel like you especially have a lot of good memories of him.”

“Yeah, when he cut off my leg?” he said, “Priceless!”

“And when he pet you like a cat?”

“You know, he never really stopped…” Gordon took a bite of the cake. “Man, this cake is so good.” John sat down next to Gordon with a newly refilled glass of beer. “Good job on the cake, dude.”

“Thanks, man.”

You took your first bite of cake and practically moaned. “Oh my gosh, John, this is amazing!”

“I told you the cake was good.”

“Good is an understatement.” Talla and Bortus joined the table. You noticed that Bortus had two slices of cake, one of which was a corner slice with a large frosting flower. He began eating the flower slice and was quickly lost to the cake. You assumed that Klyden and Topa returned to their quarters.

“You know,” Talla said, “with Cassius gone and Isaac leaving, we’re not going to have any relationships to gossip about.” You washed down your cake with some punch.

“Yeah, the only relationship left is you and Ed.” Gordon took another bite of his cake.

You choked on the punch and went into a fit of coughing. “What?” you asked once you could breathe again.

“Don’t act like we can’t see the way the two of you look at each other when the other is watching,” Talla said.

“Also, Gordon and I saw the kiss when we came back to return the cow,” John explained.

Your face grew as red as your punch. “Oh, my God.”

“No, we’re okay with it!” Gordon quickly jumped in, “It’s good for Ed to date other people than Kelly and not a Retepsian in heat he added bitterly.

“Or a Krill,” Talla said.

“Or a time traveler from the future,” John added to the list.

You sighed. “Can’t you guys gossip about other relationships such as—” You looked at Bortus. He glared at you, and your words died instantly in your throat. “Never mind.” You took another bite of your cake.

When you were done with your slice of cake, you began to mingle with the crew. You were talking with Dann when the sound of clinking glass captured everyone’s attention. The piano stopped, and you turned towards the noise to find Kelly and Ed standing in the back of the mess hall.

“Isaac,” Ed began, “I know I speak for everyone here when I say we’re not just losing the best damn science officer in the fleet, we’re losing a good friend.”

“We hope we made a good impression,” Kelly said, “because you sure as hell impressed us. And no matter what your people decide about joining the Union, you always have a home here.”

“Speech!” you shouted, and soon Dann and everyone else began shouting it too.

“Come on up, say a few words,” Kelly told Isaac.

John gestured towards the makeshift stage. “I do not know any speeches,” Isaac said.

Ed smiled. “You’re a walking database, search your files.”

Isaac looked down as he searched, then he stepped up. Ed and Kelly stepped down, and the room erupted in applause. “I want to say thank you to you all. I wanted more than anything to have your respect. And I can’t deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me.”

You whooped and clapped with the rest of the crew before leaning towards Dann, “Is that Sally Field’s Oscar speech from 1984?”

“I think so,” he whispered back.

* * *

The next day, you threw up from the Xeleyan drink that Talla had mixed at the party. You brushed your teeth and got ready for your shift. You went to grab the new PortoSim that you had been working on when you noticed the old one, Isaac’s PortoSim, was there as well. You had forgotten to give it back to him when he regained consciousness. You grabbed it and put it in your pocket in case you ran into Dr. Finn sometime throughout the day. You then headed up to the bridge for your shift.

It had been another uneventful shift until Claire came in urgently, telling the Ed and Kelly that Ty was no longer on the Orville. Dr. Finn, Talla, and Bortus left to go find him, and you anxiously waited for them to find Ty, the PortoSim forgotten in your pocket.

After what felt like an eternity, the bridge finally heard from the landing party. _“Bortus to Orville.”_

“Mercer here, go ahead.”

_“The boy is unharmed,”_ You released a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. _“but, sir, there is something here you should see. I am transferring visual from my comscanner to the main viewer.”_

“Let’s have it,” Kelly said.

You looked up at the viewer, and you felt like you were going to puke again. There were piles upon piles of bones. Both Ed and Kelly stood from the chairs. “Bortus, what are we looking at?” Ed asked.

_“Bodies, Captain. Thousands. But the remains are not Kaylon. They are biological.”_

_“500,000 bodies in this chamber alone, sir,”_ Talla said, _“and I’m picking up more just like this. They go on for miles.” You_ looked closer to the bodies and noticed that the skulls could practically be human.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Gordon said.

“Ed,” Kelly said, “I’m running a planet-wide sweep of the subsurface. These graveyards—they’re just about everywhere.”

“Bortus, get Ty back to the ship right now.”

_“Aye, sir.” _

The main viewer returned to the view of the Kaylon planet. The world seemed darker to you now. Ed and Kelly left the bridge in a purposeful rush, leaving the bridge filled with a grave silence. No one could speak as you were all stunned with the realization that the Orville was probably on a planet filled with murderers. Soon, Claire, Ty, Talla, and Bortus were spotted through the viewer, and Ed and Kelly soon came into view as well. Bortus led Ty back onto the ship as the others went to confront the Kaylon. Bortus then entered the bridge, and the silence persisted.

The silence was shattered minutes later. _“Bortus, get the Orville out of here! Alert the Union—” _It ended as abruptly as it came.

“That can’t be good,” you said.

“Captain?” Bortus asked when Ed didn’t answer he hit the speak button on the comms, “Captain, can you hear me?” No response.

Instead, the lights in the bridge began flickering. “We’re losing main power. Engines too, some kind of dampening field,” John said.

“Commander, every hatch and airlock on the ship just opened up!” Gordon turned dramatically to face Bortus. “We’re being boarded.”


	2. Punishment?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, when I said that more juicy stuff would be in this chapter, I hadn't realized I had all the juicy stuff in this chapter...oops! Also sorry for the wait, grad school applications are time consuming.

“Alerting security now,” the security Lieutenant who had replaced Talla said.

You watched helplessly as hundreds of Kaylon began to board the ship. “That’s a lot,” you thought aloud.

“I’m receiving several reports of the Kaylon having weapons.” A pause. “It’s not looking good, sir.”

“We are not going down without a fight,” Bortus said. The bridge doors slid open, revealing Ed, Kelly, and Talla surrounded by a dozen Kaylon and Isaac. True to his word, Bortus immediately stood from the Captain’s chair, ready to fight.

“Bortus,” Ed commanded, “stand down.” Bortus reluctantly obeyed, and the four Kaylon in the front entered and immediately unsheathed their guns from their head.

You anxiously watched as two Kaylon walked towards you and Gordon around the Captain’s and Commander’s chairs, their guns never receding, boxing you both in. “Surrender your stations,” they said. Gordon stood up with dignity, his eyes not once breaking contact with the Kaylon.

You instinctively looked at Ed before you did anything, ignoring the guns pointed at your head. He slightly nodded. It was only then that you stood up too, tall and proud, and joined the group behind the Kaylon.

Nine Kaylon headed down, each heading for a station, leaving only the Science officer station, Isaac’s station, free. “Begin decryption of all security lockouts,” said the Kaylon in the Captain’s chair. Talla raised her head, preparing herself for what was coming.

“Taught ‘em everything you know, huh?” Claire said bitterly. Isaac didn’t answer; instead, he walked to his station and sat down, the entire bridge crew watched.

“Deploy all forces,” the leader said again, “Set course for Earth.” You gasped and shared a look with Gordon. Fuck.

The Kaylon lead the entire bridge crew down to the shuttle bay in Deck E with the rest of the surviving crew members. You and the other senior officers found a spot by some boxes of cargo. Ed and Gordon were sitting on boxes across from each other, John sat on a box to Ed’s left, Kelly leaned on a tall stack of boxes next to Gordon, and you sat atop a tall stack to Ed’s right. Bortus and Talla were pacing around the group.

“I do not understand,” Bortus said, “Why do they keep us here?”

“They already have the ship. Why don’t they just kill us?” John asked Ed.

“They need us for some reason,” Ed said.

“Why would they need us?” you asked, “They believe themselves to be far superior beings. We’re practically worthless to them.”

Gordon shook his head and stood up, determined. “Gordon, what are you doing?” Kelly asked.

“I’m ‘a try to get some answers.”

“We’ve tried already. They’re not going to tell you anything.”

He shrugged. “Well, you never know.”

Ed shrugged, too. “Just let him take a whack at it. Can’t do any worse.”

“He could die,” you mumbled. You all watched Gordon walk over to the Kaylon guarding the shuttle bay entrance. “How do you think it’s gonna go down?” you asked aloud.

“Well, first, he’s going to introduce himself,” Ed said.

“Next, he’s gonna talk about Jersey,” Kelly added.

“Then he’ll finally get to the point,” John said.

“And he’ll leave a failure,” Bortus finished.

Gordon soon returned. “Yeah, I got nothing.”

You casually put your hands in your pocket, not expecting to find anything. “Oh my god!”

“What?” John asked.

“I never returned the PortoSim to Isaac after he was deactivated. It’s still in my pocket!”

“That’s fantastic!” Ed said.

“But how do we know that the Kaylon don’t know about it?” Kelly asked.

“If Isaac had told them about it, they definitely would have searched me and my quarters.”

“And I bet wanting to look biological for another biological would be a big ‘no-no’ to the Kaylon.”

You began to brainstorm. “I don’t think I could pass for Kaylon considering how they communicate, but maybe—”

“I want to see Isaac!” Ty shouted.

“Ty!” You turned and saw the kid running towards the entrance, his mom running after him. “Isaac!”

“Ty! No!”

“I wanna see Isaac!” The same Kaylon that Gordon had talked to had caught Ty before he reached the closed door. “Let me go!”

“Hey!” Claire shouted.

Talla ran towards him too. “Put him down.” She reached the Kaylon before Claire did. It shot her directly in the chest, sending her flying several feet.

“Talla!” Ed ran to her side. You jumped off the boxes and followed him with Bortus, Kelly, John, and Gordon.

The Kaylon released Ty, and he immediately ran towards Dr. Finn. “Mommy!”

Claire snatched him up into a hug. “Oh, it’s okay, Baby. It’s okay.”

Ed and Kelly kneeled next to Talla while you, Gordon, John, and Bortus stood. “Talla? Doctor!” Claire ran over and checked her pulse.

“Is she alive?” Kelly asked.

“She has a pulse, but it’s weak. We’ve got to get her to sickbay.” Claire turned towards Ty and Marcus. “Boys, stay close to Commander Grayson.”

Ed picked up Talla and carried her to the door, Claire following behind him. The crowd that had gathered parted for them. “Come here, kids,” Kelly said, Marcus and Ty came closer to her.

“This woman needs medical attention. You need to open these doors right now.” The Kaylon was silent, so Ed continued. “Look, whatever your reason for keeping us here, you obviously need us alive. This woman is my chief of security and a key member of my bridge crew. I need to get her to sickbay, or she could die.”

The Kaylon turned to another and spoke to each other in their language. They turned back to Ed. “I will escort you and your doctor to sickbay.”

The three of them left as the rest of the crew watched with concern for their chief of security.

“Is Lieutenant Keyali going to be okay?” Marcus asked.

“Yes,” Bortus answered, “the Lieutenant is strong. She will survive.”

“Shame that we can’t say the same thing,” Gordon said under his breath. John punched him in the arm. “Ow! What we were all thinking it.”

“Not in front of the children.”

“No, Bortus is right,” Kelly said, “we are all going to make it through this. We’ve faced life or death situations before. Bortus and I were held in a concentration camp, Ed, Gordon, and (F/N) have been prisoners of the Krill, John was almost sentenced to death,” she turned to Ty and Marcus, “and you two and your mom were stranded on a virus-riddled planet. We’ve faced these kinds of odds before; this is just a little closer to home than we’d like.” The gathered crew members felt more determined than ever.

“That’s my commander!” you shouted with newfound determination.

“It is like what those wise fifteen people had written,” Bortus said, “‘I’m a survivor. I’m not gon’ give up. I’m not gon’ stop. I’m a work harder.’”

John blinked. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

Before Bortus could answer, one of the Kaylon that was guarding the doors walked over to your group. “I am to escort all senior officers to the briefing room for further instructions.”

Kelly reluctantly left Ty and Marcus, and she, John, Bortus, and Gordan began walking towards the door. You began to follow when the Kaylon unsheathed his guns and pointed them at you. You froze. “Senior officers only,” it said.

“I am a senior officer,” you said, “I’m the navigator!”

“According to our records obtained from the unit known as Isaac, the navigator is Lieutenant John LaMarr. You are Ensign (L/N).”

“_Ensign?_” you asked, ready to fight.

Kelly quickly jumped in. “It’s okay. Lieutenant, calm down, you can stay here with Ty and Marcus.” You took a deep breath and nodded.

Your fellow senior officers left with the Kaylon while you walked back to where Marcus and Ty had been sitting for the whole ordeal. “I swear to god,” you muttered angrily, “if we survive this, I’m going to go up to Isaac and kick his metallic—” you looked down at the boys “…shins.”

“Why don’t they believe that you’re the navigator?” Marcus asked.

“Isaac probably gave them old records of the crew. Or maybe just old records of me…” you thought aloud.

“Why would he do that?” Ty asked.

You shrugged. “My best guess is that he doesn’t want the other Kaylon to know about the existence of the PortoSim.”

“But it’s so cool!”

“Thanks, Ty.” You turned to Marcus. “He doesn’t know what they do with it, right?”

“Nope, not a clue. He just likes human Isaac.”

“That’s good.” You quickly looked over your shoulder before whispering, “Come with me.” You guided them behind a large pile of cargo boxes. The three of you sat down on the ground, completely concealing you from the Kaylon. “Did you two know that when I was younger, I wanted to be a duck,” you said as you input settings on the PortoSim, “and now, years later, I am!”

The boys gasped as the PortoSim transformed you into a rather large duck right before their eyes. Ty’s eyes widened. “I wanna be a duck!”

You passed him the PortoSim, and he changed instantly from a boy into a duck. He looked down at his hands and saw wings. “I can feel the feathers!”

“Me next!” Marcus said. Ty passed him the PortoSim, and the duck simulation transferred from Ty to Marcus. He looked down at his body in amazement before he asked, “Can it do reptiles?”

* * *

That was how the three of you spent the next several minutes trying to keep the boys distracted from the impending doom. Ty had been doing a decent imitation of a rabbit when Yaphit interrupted. “Hey (F/N), we managed to get a connection between the shuttle and the main screen from the bridge. Thought you might want to see it.”

Ty handed back the PortoSim, and you turned it off before you stood up. “Absolutely, what’s happening?” The four of you crossed the shuttle bay to reach the shuttle.

“We’ve come across another Union ship, the USS Roosevelt. I’m assuming that the Kaylon brought the senior officers to the bridge to keep up the front that the Kaylon are peaceful.” You, Ty, Marcus, and Yaphit boarded the shuttle, the crowd of engineers parting for you. On the screen was a Union Captain you didn’t recognize, with an engineer behind him.

You recognized Ed’s voice immediately, and your heart skipped a beat. “—try and convince them to join the Union, and they accepted.”

“We’re on our way to Earth with their…ambassadorial delegation,” Kelly said.

The video feed never wavered from the USS Roosevelt. “That’s one big delegation,” the Captain said.

“Well, they’re—” Kelly began when Ed interrupted.

“They’re very big on…pageantry.”

The Captain’s expression went from concerned to elated. “Ed, my God, this is huge! Do you realize what kind of an advantage this could give us against the Krill?”

“Yeah, listen, Marcos,” Ed said, ignoring the Captain’s, Marcos’s question, “we really have to go, but may I offer you and your crew a Thirteen-button salute?” The air in the shuttle went still.

Marcos’s face immediately fell. “Of course. I understand. Safe travels, Captain.” The feed ended, leaving the bridge and the shuttle with a view of the USS Roosevelt beginning to go.

Ensign Turco was the first to talk. “Oh my god, Captain Mercer did it! He sent a message to the Union.” You, Ty, Marcus, and half of the engineering crew began celebrating, hugging everyone within reach.

You were the first to see it. The Roosevelt changing its course.

The first blast from a Kaylon ship.

“Ty, Marcus, look away.”

Everyone in the shuttle turned to look at the screen. “What why…?” Marcus asked. You quickly covered his eyes, and Yaphit covered Ty’s before the Roosevelt was destroyed by four quick blasts.

The shuttle had gone silent as their hope was destroyed with the Roosevelt. Lieutenant Dann summed up everyone’s feelings. “Fuck.”

You were all shaken out of your reverie by a commotion from the shuttle bay. You quickly exited to find the crew again gathered around the Kaylon guarding the doors. “What’s happened?” you asked.

“Some Kaylon came in and grabbed Ensign Mammone and took him from the shuttle bay,” an ensign from the science level explained, before she yelled at the Kaylon, “What are you going to do with him?”

The Kaylon didn’t even acknowledge her. “It’s not worth it, Ensign, it’s like yelling at a brick wall.”

She turned to face you; her eyes were glassy. “He has a family.”

Suddenly, the Kaylon stepped to the side as the doors opened, and the other senior officers returned. Ty and Marcus ran to Dr. Finn. You quickly followed to meet the group.

“Thank god you guys are okay.” You stopped when you failed to see a specific person. “Wait, where’s the Captain?” You looked around the group to see if anyone knew, but no one would look you in the eye. “Guys, where’s Ed?”

Kelly sighed. “We should talk about this where the rest of the crew can’t hear us.” Kelly guided you back to pile of cargo boxes with Gordon, John, and Talla while Bortus went to check on Topa and Klyden.

The moment that you had reached the boxes, you immediately turned to face Kelly. “Commander Grayson?”

“They took Ed down to deck seven. For punishment.”

Your blood went cold. “Punishment? What does that mean? What are they doing to him?”

“We don’t know.”

You fell back on some cargo near you. “I’m sure Ed is going to be fine,” Gordon said. You could barely hear Gordon over the roaring in your ears. “They’re not going to kill the Captain.”

“Oh god,” was all you could say.

Talla sat next to you and gently rubbed soothing circles on your back. You stared at your feet, trying not to cry. A few minutes later, Talla whispered in your ear. “You might want to look up.”

You sat up and looked at her. “Why?” In response, Talla turned your head towards the entrance of the shuttle bay where an intake Ed Mercer stood. Without a second thought, you took off towards him. “Ed!”

He turned. When he saw you, his face lit up. The tears that you had been holding back before were now freely running down your face in relief. You leaped at him, nearly knocking both of you down.

“You’re okay,” you whispered. Before Ed could reply, you grabbed his uniform and pulled _your_ Captain in for a desperate kiss. Your teeth clashed against Ed’s, and the tears running down your cheek made the kiss uncomfortably wet. Ed’s natural, warm scent was intermingled with the smell of the pee corner in the distance.

It was one of the best kisses you’ve ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that was good, i've never written a kiss before...


	3. It Wouldn’t be an Invasion if your Life wasn’t Threatened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've learned I can't write space battles so I'm gonna apologize ahead of time. Sorry.

“Get a room you two!” Gordon yelled. Surprised, you broke off the kiss and looked at Gordon, an abrupt reminder that more people exist in the universe than just you and Ed. You looked up, and Ed saw the same look of adoration on his face as you had on yours. Then he smirked.

“Did you miss me?”

You reached out and hugged him, burying your face in his shoulder to hide your blush. “Shut up.” Ed chuckled and pulled you tighter into the hug. For the first time since the Kaylon had taken over the ship, you felt safe.

“Captain?” the science ensign asked, “I don’t mean to intrude, but Ensign Mammone, is he…?

Ed let go of you but held on to your hands. “I’m sorry, Ensign Wattenberg,” he said.

Instead of the ensign crying like you had expected, instead, she walked away, mumbling about how she’ll tear those metal bastards, limb from limb.

You and Ed rejoined the other senior officers, except for Gordon, by the cargo boxes, your hand never left his. “Was Ensign Wattenberg okay?” Dr. Finn asked when you arrived.

“They took Ensign Mammone from the Shuttle bay while you guys were up on the bridge,” you explained.

“They shot him out of an airlock as punishment for warning the Roosevelt,” Ed finished.

“Oh, my God!” John exclaimed.

“We have to get a message to Union Central somehow,” Kelly said.

“How long before we’re in communications range?” Talla asked.

“There’s no way to know without access to the navigational computer,” John answered.

“Sorry,” Gordon said, rejoining the group, “I was in the pee corner.”

Kelly blinked. “The what?”

“Oh. Well, there’s no place to go to the bathroom down here, so we all agreed on one corner.” He gestured toward the corner. “Yeah, no, trust me, you don’t want to go over there unless you have to.”

You shuddered. “We really should tell Union central to install bathrooms in their shuttle bays after this.”

“Captain,” Talla said, “even if we are able to send a warning to Union Central, if the Kaylon detect it, they have no reason to keep us alive.”

“And do not forget,” Bortus added, “two Kaylon vessels destroyed the Roosevelt with ease. Our fleet is no match for theirs.”

“Alone, it’s not,” Kelly said. Everyone turned to her.

“What do you mean?” Ed asked.

“If we could somehow get a shuttle out, we could go for help.”

“From who?” John asked, “The Moclans? They’d never get here in time.”

“The Krill.”

“_What_?” Gordon asked. You squeezed Ed’s hand, and he squeezed back.

“They’re the nearest fleet,” Kelly said like it was apparent.

“Wait, you want to go into Krill space in a shuttle?” Gordon crossed the space between him and Kelly. “they’d blow us to pieces the second we crossed the border.”

“Maybe. But maybe there’s some way we could get them to listen and explain to them that the Kaylon are just as much of a threat to them as they are to us.”

“With our combined fleets, we might stand a chance,” Claire chimed in.

“I volunteer to go.”

Ed stood up. “Hey, wait, slow down. Okay, first of all, no one has approved this plan, which, by the way, is bordering on insane. But if we do attempt it, I’m gonna be the one to go.”

“_What_?” you asked.

“Ed, you’re the Captain. The Kaylon objective doesn’t work without you. They’d send their whole fleet in pursuit if they had to. At least_ I _have a chance of escaping.”

“I’ve been onboard a Krill ship; you haven’t,” Ed said.

“I’ll take Gordon. He was there with you.”

“Oh, man,” Gordon said, “pee corner’s looking _real_ good right now.”

“Kelly, it’s a suicide mission.”

“Maybe, but you and I both know it’s our only hope. Otherwise, this is the 25th hour for Earth.”

“Okay, I just have one question,” you said, “how are we going to get the shuttle out of the shuttle bay? The controls for the doors are behind the Kaylon guards.”

* * *

You were tasked with watching the guards with John and Talla while Yaphit sneaked through the vents to grab a weapon. It wasn’t long before Yaphit came back with a phaser. “Nice work, Yaphit,” she whispered. You saw her pass it to Bortus out of the corner of your eye.

“All right, Bortus,” Ed said softly, “you’re only going to get one shot at this.”

“I will not fail you.” Bortus stepped forward and shot the two Kaylon guards by the entrance before they knew what hit them.

_No turning back now._ “Everyone, get to the walls!” you commanded the remaining crewmembers.

“John, Talla, get those doors open,” Ed commanded. The two ran over to the controls.

“Come on, let’s move,” Kelly told Gordon. You watched as the shuttle bay doors opened, and Kelly and Gordon entered the shuttle. Not long after, the shuttle bay doors started to close. You prayed that Gordon could maneuver the shuttle out of the ship, and you internally cheered when he did.

You joined Yaphit, and the remaining senior crew members gathered around the vent again.

“All right,” Ed said, “in about two minutes, a fresh crop of Kaylon are gonna come busting through that door. Yaphit, it’s up to you. We need to get that message off without being detected.”

“I mean, uh, there’s no guarantees, but I’ll do my best,” Yaphit replied.

“What if you had someone with you to scramble the frequency at random?” John asked, “It could increase the odds that the Kaylon will think it’s just cosmic background noise.”

“That could work. There’s just one problem,” Yaphit said, “That conduit’s only half a meter wide. I’m the only one who can fit through it, and there’s no other way to get to the communications array.”

Ty joined them. “I could fit.”

You shared a look with Ed, John, and Talla.

Dr. Finn quickly stood up and rejected the idea. “Oh, no, no. No way. You all are out of your minds if you think I’m gonna let him do that.”

Ty spoke up before anyone else. “But I’m small enough,” he said, “I could get in.”

“Absolutely not.” Claire placed her hands on Ty’s shoulders. “Ty, the Kaylon are dangerous. They’ve already killed God knows how many people. They could kill you, too. Do you understand that?”

“But…if we don’t stop them, they’re gonna kill us all anyway. That’s what you guys said. Right?” He looked up at you and the other officers.

Your heart clenched.

“Mom. He’s right. At least this way we have a chance,” Marcus said.

Claire looked down at her sons. “Ty, I’m not gonna let you—”

“Mom. I can do it.”

“Claire, I’ll do everything I can to keep him safe,” Yaphit promised.

You looked at Ty in a brand-new light. Just a few hours ago, he was pretending to be a duck with the PortoSim, and now he was going to help save you all.

“Here, Ty, take the PortoSim.” You set the settings to ‘cloak.’ “You’ll be invisible as long as you’re holding it.”

Claire looked at her youngest as if it was the last time that she would ever see him, which could end up being the case. “You be careful, Ty Finn.”

“I will. I promise.”

Yaphit entered the vent. You handed Ty the PortoSim, and he vanished with the PortoSim. The vent opened, closed, and Ty was gone. Marcus put his arm around his mom’s shoulders.

The whoosh of the doors opening and the sound of several Kaylon entering the shuttle bay ruined the moment. They pulled out their guns, and Bortus immediately dropped his weapon in surrender.

* * *

Yaphit and Ty entered the communications room. “What do we do,” Ty asked.

“You see that green panel over there?” Yaphit said in the general direction of Ty’s voice.

“Yeah.”

“All right. I’m gonna start transmitting the message to Union Central. As soon as I do, you start punching in random frequencies. Doesn’t matter what they are, but just keep ‘em coming. Don’t stop.”

“Got it.” Ty put the PortoSim down on the ground and was once again visible.

“You ready?”

“Uh-huh.”

They began typing into their consoles. “Okay. Good, I think it’s working. You’re doing great, Ty, keep it up.”

The doors to the room opened, and Ty immediately stopped, seeing two Kaylon. “You will cease your actions,” they said.

“Oh, crap! Ty, run!” Yaphit shouted before throwing himself on the nearest Kaylon.

Ty didn’t hesitate and quickly crawled into the vent. The remaining Kaylon sent wires into the vent. The wires wrapped around Ty’s ankles and pulled the boy out of the vent “Yaphit! Help! Let me go! Yaphit!” Ty cried, “Yaphit! Yaphit! Help me!”

A burnt Yaphit oozed out of the Kaylon, helpless to protect Ty as the Kaylon carried him away.

A few moments later, a third Kaylon soldier came to collect his fallen brethren. Yaphit had hidden in the vents, unable to do anything else. It stopped when something crunched under its foot. It picked up the broken, decloaked PortoSim and examined it before taking the pieces back to the Primary.

* * *

“Shouldn’t they be back by now?” Dr. Finn asked.

You shrugged while knowing that yes, they _should_ _have_ gotten back by now. Before you could say a comforting lie, however, a Kaylon entered the shuttle bay, holding a broken piece of technology in its hand. Your heart skipped a beat, immediately recognizing the wrecked PortoSim. “Who is the owner of this device?” it asked.

You hoped that the Kaylon would drop the subject and leave. You didn’t want to acknowledge it as yours and have Dr. Finn realize that if the PortoSim didn’t make it, Ty probably didn’t make it either.

Unfortunately, it continued. “If the owner of this device does not come forward, someone will die.”

You knew what you had to do.

“It’s mine,” you said as you walked towards the center of the shuttle bay. If the PortoSim was in pieces, Ty probably wasn’t in good shape either. You saw your fellow officers come to the same conclusion as you had. Out of the corner of your eye, Bortus and Talla were holding Claire back from attacking the Kaylon herself. One of the new Kaylon that had been guarding the door walked over to Ed and held him in a tight grip. “No, let go of me!” He struggled to get out of its grip so he could protect you.

The Kaylon’s weapons came out, and you refused to look away, not even daring to look at your Captain one last time. The guns were powered up and…

…all three Kaylon collapsed on the ground. _What?_

No one breathed as they stared at the unmoving Kaylon. When you realized that you weren’t about to be shot, you fell to your knees, the relief overwhelming. Ed immediately ran to your side. He knelt down beside you and took you into his arms. “You okay?”

After a few shaky breaths, you nodded into his shoulder.

Slowly, the rest of the crew stepped closer to get a better look at the Kaylon. “What happened?” John asked.

No one knew. Ed was helping you stand up when the quiet beeping of buttons was heard from the other side of the door. The crew waited with bated breath to see what was there, expecting the worst. No one was expecting the boy on the other side.

“Ty!” Claire shouted. She ran towards her boy and picked him up. “Oh, thank God. Oh, honey, are you okay?” You, Ed, and the entire crew followed after her.

“I’m alright, Mom.”

“Ty, what happened,” Ed asked.

“Isaac saved us. He killed the Kaylon.”

“Come on.” The crew followed Ed out of the shuttle bay and back to their stations.

You and the senior officers made their way back to the bridge, finding it doused in red light, ready for battle, and their stations occupied by deactivated Kaylon.

“Get these Kaylon out of here!” Ed ordered. You walked to Navigation and pushed the Kaylon onto the ground. It felt good to be back in your seat.

John sat in Gordon’s seat as the Helmsman. “Captain, we’re approaching Earth.” The ship slowed from quantum speed, and the image of Earth and her moon appeared on the screen.

“Magnify.” The image changed, revealing the entire Planetary Union fleet ready for battle in front of the moon.

“Looks like they got the message,” Talla said.

Neither of the two fleets, Union or Kaylon, had made a move to attack. “I guess it’s up to us,” Ed said, “Bring us about and aim at the nearest Kaylon ship.”

Both fleets responded immediately, and the Orville quickly plunged into battle against the Kaylon with the rest of the Union.

The Orville locked on to a Kaylon ship, and both you and John dodged and weaved around the remains of wrecked ships and the blasters from a Kaylon ship following.

“Phase-lock the deflectors,” Ed said.

John did as he asked. “Aye, sir.”

The crew hit the Kaylon ship in front, and it went down in an explosion of fire, but the vessel behind was relentless.

The bridge shook as the Kaylon landed a blast on the Orville. “Captain, they’re slicing right through our deflectors,” Talla informed.

The bridge shook again. “Evasive maneuvers. Narrow targeting scanners. Concentrate your fire.”

“Scanners cannot penetrate their hull,” Bortus said.

“Do eeny-meeny-miney-mo. Pick a spot!”

You worked to evade the blasts and maneuver through the other spaceships to give the Orville enough distance between it and the Kaylon so that it could turn around and take aim. As the ship turned around, it was hit by a stray blast. You grimaced as the bridge shook again.

With the Kaylon ship in view, and with John making sure that it never left the viewscreen, the Orville flew towards it, landing direct hits until the Kaylon ship went up in flames. “Uh-huh. Boom, bitch!”

“We’re being hailed by the USS Spruance,” Talla said, “It’s Admiral Halsey.”

“Put him on.”

Admiral Halsey’s appeared on the viewscreen, the bridge of the Spruance shaking in the background. “The fleet’s taking a beating. 32 ships disabled or destroyed so far—” The Orville shook as it was hit. “—and we’ve only taken out six of theirs. The Kaylon—" The viewscreen went black.

“Admiral?” Ed asked, “Admiral, do you read?”

“His vessel has lost main power,” Bortus said, “It is retreating.”

You and John noticed the Kaylon at the same time. “Captain, five Kaylon just broke through the line. They’re heading for Earth.”

“Pursuit course.”

You and John maneuvered the Orville away from the fighting. You pursued the Kaylon ships, shooting at them relentlessly with several Union ships following. The Kaylon noticed. The five vessels turned around and shot at the Orville, the bridge rocking every time they landed a hit.

“Launch torpedoes. Target their maneuvering thrusters.”

As the Orville and the Kaylon came closer to Earth, the surface of the moon receded, and the Earth came into full view. The Union ships took down a Kaylon vessel, and the four remaining Kaylon quickly took out four of the ships pursuing them, leaving only three Union vessels left. The USS Hawking was disabled before you or John had time to react, and the Orville skimmed the Hawking and sent pieces of both ships into space.

Ed reacted immediately. “Divert auxiliary power to the deflectors.”

The Kaylon ships fired at what was left of the Hawking. “The Hawking has been destroyed,” Bortus said.

The Kaylon continued shooting at the three remaining ships. “We’re taking heavy damage,” Talla said, “Hull breaches on decks E and F.”

The Kaylon shot down the fourth ship before they slammed one of their ships into the fifth, leaving the Orville the only vessel left to stop the Kaylon from reaching Earth.

Bortus alerted the bridge. “We have lost the USS Quimby.”

“They Kaylon are less than 50,000 kilometers from Earth,” John added.

“I am not liking our odds,” you muttered.

The Orville rocked as it sustained another hit.

“Order all hands to the escape pods,” Ed said.

“Sir?” Talla asked.

“I’m gonna overload the quantum drive.”

“Captain—” Bortus warned.

“Do it.”

John glanced down at the beeping scanners. “Hold up! A bunch of ships just entered the system. They’re closing in fast.”

“More Kaylon?” Talla asked.

John shook his head. “Krill.”

You watched as a dozen Krill ships destroyed the remaining Kaylon ships headed for Earth. “Oh, thank god.”

“The Krill are hailing,” Talla said.

“Put ‘em through.”

You felt giddy as the image of Kelly and a Krill captain appeared on the viewscreen. “Captain Mercer,” Kelly said, “meet Captain Dalak.”

“It’s good to meet you, Captain,” Ed greeted, “We owe you one.”

“Try to stay out of our way,” Captain Dalak said before leaving the viewscreen.

“Bring us about,” Ed commanded. You and John guided the Orville back to the battle, where the glow of green Krill blasters joined the red and blue blasts of the Kaylon and the Union.

The Orville jumped back into the fight alongside the Krill, finding a lot less Kaylon ships to aim at. A Kaylon ship was set on crashing itself into the Orville. “Hard to port,” Ed said. John turned the Orville left, and the Kaylon ship flew into the upper torii, shaking the bridge once more. Two more destroyed Kaylon ships later, the Kaylon stopped attacking.

“Captain,” Bortus said, “the Kaylon are withdrawing their remaining forces.” You watched through the viewscreen as the Kaylon ships left at quantum warp.

“The Krill are hailing again.” Talla put the image of Captain Dalak on the viewscreen.

“It appears we are victorious,” he said.

Ed stood up from his chair. “It looks that way. May we expect our crewmen to be returned to our ship?”

“You may send a shuttle over. It will not be harmed.”

“Captain, it seems that we have a common enemy,” Ed said, “I hope that means we can work towards finding a common ground.”

“Avis reunited our paths for a reason, but only _He_ truly knows why. We shall see where that path leads,” Dalak said before he left the viewscreen.

* * *

With the Krill gone and the Orville on a course to Earth, the senior officers, Ty, and Marcus were called into sickbay where a deactivated Isaac waited. They crowded around his bed. “So, what do we do now?” Kelly asked.

“He saved us,” Talla said, “We have to try to save him.”

“Yeah, but the only reason he _had _to save us is ‘caused he screwed us in the first place,” Gordon said.

“I almost died!” you agreed. _He also didn’t tell the Kaylon about my promotion_, you thought bitterly.

“I agree with Lieutenant Malloy,” Bortus said, “It is best that he remain inactive.”

Ed turned to look at Claire. “Doctor?”

“Captain, even if we decide to try and revive him, I don’t know where to begin.”

“I might.” You turned and saw Yaphit entering. “I oozed right inside one of those bastards and shorted him out from the core. Almost fried me and put me out of commission for a bit, but it worked. When I was in there, I got a good look at his guts. I think I may be able to jumpstart Isaac if I can connect the right pathways.”

“You think it’s safe?” John asked.

“I think I know where the hot spots are now,” Yaphit replied.

“Okay,” Ed said, “Try it.” He stepped back, allowing Yaphit to reach Isaac and slide inside. Everyone held their breath as Yaphit disappeared. You, John, and Gordon walked closer to Isaac to try and see what was going on inside of the Kaylon.

You jumped back in surprise when blue eyes lit up, and Isaac abruptly sat up. “I was inoperative for .7 cycles. What has transpired?” He asked Ed.

The crew shared a look before Ed sighed and filled in the details. Isaac, to his credit, didn’t seem surprised that the Union had won the battle against the Kaylon.


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night after the battle...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet!

You weren’t expecting Ed to stop by your quarters after he met with Admiral Halsey. “Can I come in,” he asked.

“Sure, what’s up?” You stepped away from the door, so Ed could enter. “How’d things go with the Admiral?”

He sat down on your couch. “Fine. Isaac can stay on the Orville as his own man.”

“I’m glad. Do you want some wine?”

“You are? I’d love some.” You ordered two glasses from the synthesizer. “I would have expected you to be bitter after you almost died.” You passed Ed his drink and sat down next to him. “Thanks.”

“I mean, I _was_ pissed about everything at the time. I realized, though, that if I had been in Isaac’s position, I couldn’t be completely confident that I wouldn’t have made the same decision he did.” You took a sip of your wine. “And I am still bitter, but not about almost dying. It’s something else, but not enough to want him dead or enslaved.”

“What is it?”

“It doesn’t matter, it’s petty.”

“Clearly it isn’t if it’s still bothering you. You can tell me, (F/N).”

You gulped down the rest of your drink and sighed. “You remember when the Kaylon called all the senior officers to the bridge…to pretend there wasn’t an invasion headed for Earth? With the Roosevelt?” Ed nodded. “The reason why they had Lt. Commander LaMarr as navigator was because Isaac apparently didn’t inform the Kaylon of either his or my promotion.”

“And that’s why you’re bitter?”

“I told you, it’s nothing.” You shook your head. “God, people have died, and I can’t get over what could just be a stupid clerical error.”

“Hey, look at me.” You did. “Any Union officer would be upset that they were disrespected like that.” You nodded and offered to get him another drink.

Ed looked thoughtful as you returned with two more glasses of wine. You passed him the drink. “What are you thinking about?”

He set his wine on the nearest table and took his hand in yours. “I was just noticing that our firsts tend to happen while we’re in mortal peril. I mean our first kiss, our first date—”

“We were in danger when we got drinks in the mess hall?”

“Would you have asked me out if we hadn’t been captured by Krill?”

You blushed. “Probably would have taken me a bit longer to work up the courage to ask the Captain out on a date.”

“And would you have kissed me so passionately if you hadn’t been so relieved that I was alive?”

“What are you saying?” you asked, avoiding his question, “We should throw ourselves into mortal danger more often so our relationship can grow?”

“No. I’m saying maybe we should try to grow our relationship while when we’re not in danger. Who knows, maybe we’ll get used to it.”

“Romance without danger!” you joked, “What blasphemy!” The two of you erupted into laughter. When it died down, you made eye contact.

You stared into his brown eyes, unable to look away as if they had their own gravity. They were radiating so much warmth that they could be classified as stars. His hands cupped your face and pulled you closer until his mouth was on yours. You closed your eyes. The warmth of his eyes was nothing compared to the warmth of his mouth. You steadied yourself with your hands on his hips.

The kiss in the shuttle bay was nothing compared to this kiss.

The clean, earthy smell of his cologne was no longer overshadowed by the scent of the pee corner but was now pleasantly mixed with the sweet smell of the wine. Your fingers subconsciously worked their way under his uniform jacket, and the faint taste of wine complimented the scent. His tongue nudged your lips, and they parted, allowing Ed entrance to your mouth. The flavor of the wine exploded in your mouth. You sucked, wanting to taste more and caused Ed to groan. You pulled away to catch your breath and saw a dark glint in Ed’s eyes. Without a word, you grabbed Ed’s hand and pulled him towards your bed.

* * *

The first thing you noticed when you woke up was the warmth of the naked body next to you.

The second thing you noticed when you woke up was the sound of your door chime. You quickly grabbed the nearest piece of discarded clothing and used it to cover all of your private bits.

You unlocked the door and found Kelly on the other side. “Hello, Commander, how can I help you?”

“Um, well, I was checking up on all of the crew during our day off in case they had a rough night, but…” Kelly raised an eyebrow and looked you over with her eyes. You looked down, thinking something was uncovered when you realized the clothing you had grabbed was a blue command jacket. “It seems that your night went pretty smoothly. I’m glad.”

A naked Ed walked over, completely unaware that the door was open, his pants in his hand. “Hey, (F/N), have you seen my—Kelly!” He quickly covered himself with his pants.

“Relax, Ed. It’s not like I haven’t seen it all before,” Kelly said, before she leaned in, “We should make plans to talk about him over drinks. Have a good day!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! The second kiss I've ever written!
> 
> Also I went through and edited some inconsistent capitalization and pluralizations. That's my bad.


End file.
